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Cho Beom-pal
Cho Beom-pal was a member of the Haewon Cho clan who was briefly magistrate of Dongnae. A man of few talents, he was appointed to his position purely because of his relationship to Lord Cho Hak-ju, the most powerful man in Joseon. His tenure as magistrate is brief; the day of his arrival unfortunately coincides with the discovery of a mass of infected "corpses" in the Jiyulheon clinic outside town. When they revive that night, Cho’s inept leadership leads to the infection quickly spreading out of control, and the magistrate only barely survives the attack by locking himself in prison with Seo-bi, a nurse from the clinic. The magistrate soon develops an attraction to Seo-bi, though she seemingly misunderstands his feelings, and confuses them for symptoms of gonorrhea. The following day, Magistrate Cho is confounded by how to deal with threat posed by the infected. Crown Prince Lee Chang, who had recently arrived to investigate the apparent resurrection of his father, attempts to implement an orderly system to dispose of the infected while they are dormant and warn outlying areas of the danger. However, a subordinate convinces the magistrate that the containment efforts are futile. He and the rest of the aristocracy instead choose to secretly flee Dongnae on a ship, abandoning the rest of the population to their fate. This ironically seals the aristocrats' fate, as one elderly noblewoman brings her infected son onboard. He infects almost all the other passengers, causing the ship to crash; the ex-magistrate is apparently the only survivor. Not long after, a disoriented Beom-pal runs into the Seo-bi in the woods, who initially mistakes him for one of the infected. She leads him back to the Crown Prince and the rest of his group, who were traveling to Sangju to enlist Lord Ahn Hyeon’s help against Cho Hak-ju. The Crown Prince is furious with the magistrate for his actions, but reluctantly allows him to join due to the threat posed by the infected on the beached ship. The Prince meets Lord Ahn soon after, who invite them back to his mansion in Sangju. Later, Beom-Pal overhears that the Five Armies have left the capital and are headed for Sangju. He tries to convince Seo-bi to run away with him, as he is sure they have been sent by Lord Cho to arrest the Crown Prince and kill anyone associated with him. However, Seo-bi is disgusted that Beom-pal wants to run away again and abandon the Prince, and refuses to leave. After the Five Armies seal the gates at Mungyeong Saejae and all other exists from Gyeongsang Province, Beom-pal assists in the preparations for the defense of Sangju from the infected horde. He attempts to impress Seo-bi by collecting medicinal herbs; however, on inspection she discovers the whole basket is full of useless weeds. Seo-bi heads into the forest to find the herbs herself, and Beom-pal goes with her. He warns her that local magistrate has prohibited anyone from taking a path that leads to a place called the Frozen Valley which is supposed to be dangerous. The name, however, immediately interests to Seo-bi; a valley with the same name outside Dongnae was said to contain the resurrection plant, the initial cause of the infection. She sets off to investigate, with Beom-pal reluctantly following. The valley is unseasonably cold, and contains a small pond which has been cordoned off with ropes hung with bells. On a hunch, Seo-bi enters a cave at the end of the valley. She finds a small purple flower growing in the dark - the resurrection plant she has been searching for. She starts collecting the plant, but Beom-pal notices shackles and bloody mats at the back of the cave. They soon find themselves trapped, as a horde of infected have gathered on the other side of the pond. Seo-bi realizes that the temperature, not the sun, made the infected go dormant. As the country enters winter, the drop in temperature will allow the infected to be active at all times of the day. Category:Nobility Category:Officials